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19 quotes on Malaysia Airlines Flight 370

As the investigation into the fate of missing Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 continues, politicians, celebrities and commentators have taken to the Internet and airwaves to speculate. The latest development came March 20 in the form of two large pieces of floating debris in the southern Indian Ocean that investigators think could be related to the missing plane. A flurry of theories — ranging from an on-board electrical fire to suicide or terrorism — continues to build as authorities remain baffled.

British satellite data show that the missing Malaysian Airlines flight “ended in the Southern Indian Ocean,” Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak said on March 24.

“Across the board, people are looking for more in the way of openness from the Malaysian government,” Rep. Patrick Meehan (R-Pa.), a member of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, said on March 23 on CNN’s “State of the Union.”

Michael Chertoff, Sept. 4, 2005

“It could be pilots. It could be members of the crew. We’ve seen a variation of that with Snowden,” former Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff said March 23 on NBC's "Meet the Press." “So I think the issue of screening and understanding when people are going off the rails inside the enterprise is going to become more of an issue.”

“Right now it’s leaning toward suicide, either the pilot or co-pilot or someone else who got into the cockpit,” Rep. Peter King (R-N.Y.) said in a March 18 interview with POLITICO.

“We have put every resource we have available at the disposal of the search process,” President Barack Obama said in an interview with Dallas news station KDFW on March 19.

“There are 2 guarantees in life: 1 - cable news will keep covering the #malaysian flight & 2 - there will be a movie about a missing airline,” Larry King tweeted on March 19.

“The physics on the missing Air Malaysia flight are so baffling I’m beginning to wonder if it might be lodged in Gov. Connally’s wrist,” tweeted "The Dennis Miller Show" account on March 20.

“Well, I mean, it — it’s becomes clearer and clearer that this is a deliberate act. Looks like the pilot was involved; can’t be sure, right,” former New York Mayor Rudy Guiliani said on Fox News’s “Hannity” on March 19.

“They could have been piloting this in daylight, which certainly expands their options as to what they could do,” Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-Calif.) said in a March 18 interview with POLITICO, referencing a theory that the pilots abandoned the plane because of some kind of mechanical malfunction. “It’s much harder to ditch or land a plane in darkness. It’s very, very hard to do in daylight, as [retired US Airways] Captain Sullenberger proved, but it’s damn near impossible I would imagine [in darkness].”

“When this is all said and done, the simplest explanation for what has happened here is what’s gonna end up being the explanation. It isn’t gonna be something extravagantly out of this world, my guess, and I’m not positing myself as an expert here,” Rush Limbaugh said on his radio show March 17.

“It could have landed somewhere, [been] filled with explosives and then sent somewhere else to cause some great damage,” House Homeland Security Chairman Mike McCaul (R-Texas) said on Fox News on March 17.

“I think that’s pretty far-fetched. Michael has a great imagination,” Rep. Loretta Sanchez (D-Calif.) said about conspiracy theories, including McCaul’s on March 17. “First of all, it’s difficult to find a landing strip and hide it. How many people would be involved to do that?”

“I’m no expert but up close this does look like a plane and an oil slick. … prayers go out to the families #MH370 and its like a mile away Pulau Perak, where they ‘last’ tracked it 5°39’08.5”N 98°50’38.0”E but what do I know?” singer Courtney Love wrote on Facebook on March 17.

“All doors and all possibilities, in my mind, are still open,” former Director of National Intelligence John Negroponte said March 16 on CNN’s “State of the Union.”

Rep. Mike Rogers (R-Mich.) — 7 terms

“This plane still may be at the bottom of the Indian Ocean — and I think a lot of folks that I’ve talked to believe that’s probably the most likely, the most probable circumstance,” Rep. Mike Rogers (R-Mich.) said on CBS News’s “Face the Nation” on March 16.

“I know the U.S. government knows a lot more than they’re talking about. And clearly, the NSA has a lot of data they’re going through now. … I’m confident that the U.S. government has a much better picture than the Malaysian government and the Chinese government,” retired Lt. Gen. Tom McInerney said on Fox’s “The Kelly File” on March 14.

“777. Still think this a reminder that US and China should be working more closely on Muslim extremist threat,” media mogul Rupert Murdoch tweeted on March 14.

“It is too soon to tell what happened, why it happened,” Deputy National Security Adviser Tony Blinken said on CNN’s “State of the Union” on March 9.

“New and credible information has come to light in relation to the search … in the south Indian Ocean,” Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott said at a news conference on March 19.